Peace! Kalilintad! Shalom!

Tag: Homilies

  • How blessed am I?

    How blessed am I?

    Advertisements

    September 9, 2020 – Wednesday of the 23rd Week in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/090920.cfm)

    Homily

    How do we understand being blessed?

    Usually, when we think of a life that is blessed we think of material wealth and prosperity – like having a good family, a prosperous business, a successful career or a good paying job, or having a good health. We think that being blessed has something to do with success and material possessions.

    Thus, poverty is never a blessing; being persecuted, being sick and being rejected is never a blessing too. If we are experiencing such life, we consider ourselves to be cursed.

    However, what Jesus told us today is quite opposite of today’s standard. Our human understanding of being blessed is different from God. Indeed, there is a need for us to understand blessing and our life from God’s perspective..

    In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus warns those who in the standard of the world are blessed such as the satisfied, the rich, the powerful, the popular and the influential. The danger lies in the attitude of the heart that becomes independent from God, a heart that rejects God’s mercy and love. In fact, Jesus warns us when we tend to accumulate more wealth for ourselves at the expense of the poor, or when we gather fame and influence at the expense of others.

    Such attitude of the heart is filled with arrogance and self-centeredness that has no need of God. True enough, when we are so filled with ourselves and too satisfied of what we have gained and achieved, we don’t need God anymore. Our successes and we, ourselves, have become ‘gods.’ This leads us to worship our achievements, wealth, our power and ourselves. But then, all of these corrupt us because we will never be satisfied. We will thirst and hunger for more wealth, recognition and fame which will also lead to our own destruction and those who are around us and those blocking our way to gain for more, as any form of addiction will also result in this way.

    Indeed, dependence on these forms of material satisfactions is a mere arrogance and a false sense of security. This is actually the promise of addictions, in whatever form that may be, whether addiction to drugs, alcohol, sex, influence and fame, wealth and power (political or economic power).

    However, in God’s perspective those who are poor, sick, persecuted, those who failed and rejected are blessed because it is in their poverty and difficulty that they also realize their weakness and need of God. Such insecurities bring us to understand that we are so small in this world and we are in need of God’s grace. That is why; Jesus addressed these Beatitudes to his disciples, assuring them of his presence. His disciples left their families and jobs. They went to places where sometimes they have to sleep without roof. Authorities ridiculed them and insulted them for following Jesus.

    Thus, the very presence of God in our life is what makes us “blessed.” Since God favors those who are weak, poor, suffering and struggling in life, they are the ones who are blessed because they understand their need of God. God comes to us when we are ready to accept God in our life and to let God be our God.

    Advertisements

    God invites us then, to recognize our own poverty and anxieties because God blesses us with His presence. This is also the message of St Paul present in his first letter to the Corinthians. Though at that time, they must have believed that the “Parousia” of the second coming of Jesus was about to happen during their lifetime as he said, “for the world in its present form is passing away.” Paul reminded the people of the need to be more attached to God rather than to what was material and temporary. Paul recognized the importance of ones dependence to God and complete trust in God’s providence. Through the presence of God present in their life, they were indeed blessed.

    So, how blessed are you? The material wealth that we have gained, the influence and fame that we have received, the successes that we have achieved, our good health, our talents and abilities, our knowledge, intelligence and competence are signs of God’s grace and generosity. When we have these, these may lead us to humble ourselves and to recognize that these are gifts and we ought to share them to others. Thus, if you have received much, share the blessings to those who are in need, if you are enjoying success in life, share the experience with those who failed especially in these trying times of the pandemic. It is in this way that the Kingdom of God will truly be present among us, and that we ourselves become the blessing. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR

  • Pregnant with God’s Presence

    Pregnant with God’s Presence

    Advertisements

    September 8, 2020 – Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/090820.cfm)

    Homily

    Viva Maria! Viva Hesus!

    Mary, indeed, is a key figure in our salvation history. Yet, not one story in the bible that we could find about her birth. The first time we encounter Mary was already at the annunciation of the Angel Gabriel that she was to become pregnant with God.[1]

    Mary’s birthday can only be understood and appreciated through her pregnancy and her presence in the life of Jesus. So, as we joyfully celebrate her birthday today, let us discover God’s invitations for us as we remember the life of the Blessed Virgin Mother.

    The Book of the Prophet Micah tells us how the lowliest among the clans of Judah, Bethlehem-Ephrathah, was chosen by God to become the bearer of the ruler of Israel, who is called Peace.

    Bethlehem was indeed a small town, though the birthplace of David, the great king, but it remained un-influential. Ephrathah is the old name of Bethlehem which was retained by the Jews. These names are indeed symbolic because of the meaning behind them. Bethlehem means the house of bread and Ephrathah means fruitfulness or abundance.

    Micah tells us how the Lord brings abundance of bread, an abundance of life from this lowly place. Certainly, the son that Mary brings to us is the bread of life who brings abundance of love and life into the world.

    The Gospel today from Matthew recalled how Mary was found out to be pregnant and how Joseph planned to divorce her quietly. However, God intervened through an angel telling Joseph not to be afraid for Mary conceived a son through the Holy Spirit, “She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus (meaning, God saves) because he will save his people from their sins.”

    This particular story of the pregnancy of Mary tells us more of the birth of Mary, of why we are celebrating with joy and gratitude to God the birth of the Mother of Jesus and our Mother too.

    Through the life of Mary, the Lord reminds us and call us in an intimate way to come closer to Him for God gives abundance of peace and life. There are three points that I invite you to dwell on this birthday of our Mother Mary.

    Advertisements

    First, to be humble. God chooses us not because of the great things that we do. Our desire to be great in the eyes of others is futile in the eyes of God. God chooses us because of who we are to God. We are loved though we are not deserving. The clan of Bethlehem-Ephrathah was surely not deserving but in his lowliness God found delight. God finds delight with the unpretentious that is why God found favor with Mary. And Mary responded to God out of gratitude and faith.

    Second, God never forgets us. God’s intervention in human affairs proved how God will do everything to let us know that we are loved. God, through the participation of humanity, and that is through the person of Mary, made the Divine presence be felt and be manifested in a concrete way. Thus, even in times of so much confusion and difficulties around us, never forget and always remind ourselves, God has never forgotten us. God is with us.

    Third, we can be pregnant with God. Yes, Mary’s pregnancy tells us that humanity can be pregnant with God. This means that we are capable of becoming a bearer of God’s presence to others. To become pregnant with God is to welcome God fully in our life where we are promised to be also filled with love, with peace and with the abundance that life with God can give us. In Mary’s pregnancy with Jesus, her heart is revealed that there was no bitterness, no scars of fear or hate, only love, only peace. By allowing the Lord to be with us, we may also become pregnant with God’s presence where our heart shall also be cleared with bitterness, fear and hatred.

    In this way then, we may hopefully celebrate this day of birth of Mary, our Mother, with true joy and gratitude to the Lord for giving us such grace. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR

    [1] What we only have is the story of her birth that can be found in a Christian-devotional Text called, “The Protoevangelium of James.” In this text, that parents of Mary were named as Joachim and Anne, an old couple who were also graced with a child.

    Follow Me

    Get new content delivered directly to your inbox.

  • True love never goes wrong

    True love never goes wrong

    Advertisements

    September 7, 2020 – Monday of the 23rd Week in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/090720.cfm)

    Homily

    True love could never go wrong. The Lord could never inflict any bad thing on anybody. Jesus only desires our wellbeing, our healing, and our freedom. The presence of Jesus among us is the concrete expression of God’s tremendous and empowering love. Perhaps, it is our way of loving that could go wrong because ours is filled with selfishness and of too much self-importance to the point that our way of loving becomes corrupted and vicious.

    This is how St Paul reminded the people in his first letter to the Corinthians. A man living with his father’s wife was no love at all and not something that one should be proud of. Paul called it immorality. Paul also called such action an “old yeast,” a yeast of malice and wickedness.

    This malice and wickedness were the intentions felt by Jesus among the scribes and Pharisees while he was teaching in a synagogue. In this event, Jesus graced the people with his presence by teaching them and to perform in a concrete way how love desires the wellbeing, the healing and the freedom of a person.

    However, the scribes and the Pharisees were more concerned on how to accuse Jesus of something and then put him to death. One could not claim that these people were without love. They must have loved also, yet, their way of loving was filled with selfishness. They became corrupt and vicious. They felt threatened by the presence of Jesus who only desired goodness.

    This tells us too that a corrupt and vicious person will always be threatened by the goodness and kindness, sincerity and truthfulness of others. They felt threatened by the presence of Jesus because the very person of the Lord, his way of life, teachings and works mirrored their incapacities, their corruption, their self-absorption, their malice and wickedness. Through the very person of Jesus, they were confronted and called to be healed and to be renewed.

    Yet, these people could not because they were trapped in that kind of life. They could not because it was too much for them. Thus, with evil intent they have been looking for something to accuse Jesus and bring him to death.

    However, the Lord cannot be stopped from doing good, from giving life and bringing healing to us. The Lord willfully healed the man on a Sabbath day to tell us how ridiculous “a law made by man” can be. Hence, the question of Jesus, “Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?”

    This question was directed to those who were with evil intent and those who were seeking to destroy life. Certainly, this is no love at all.

    Today, the Lord also calls us to examine our way of loving and to learn the way the Lord loves. Loving in the way of the Lord would never go wrong. May our way of loving then, be motivated with the desire to bring goodness, healing and freedom. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR

    Follow Me

    Get new content delivered directly to your inbox.

  • Be united in prayer because Christ is in the midst of us

    Be united in prayer because Christ is in the midst of us

    Advertisements

    September 6, 2020 –  23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/090620.cfm)

    Homily

    Who wants to be corrected? Who wants to be criticized? Being with our friends, with our family or with a community, we cannot really avoid conflicts and tensions. However, a particular difficult situation can be more problematic when we become unwelcoming to corrections and to criticism.

    Jesus, in today’s Gospel offers us practical steps to overcome such situations in order to arrive in a mature way of attaining peace and reconciliation.

    Let us also bear in mind that because of the biases and discriminations that have been built up in us, we can become vicious when we are confronted by others because of our faults. That’s why, Jesus told us how to approach gently a person when we confront them of their faults or when we are being confronted. Yet, knowing that we can exercise forms of denial and refusal to admit our mistakes, then, Jesus affirms the need of the participation of the community. The Lord affirms this as he told us, “for where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

    Before I proceed deeper into the participation of the community, I would like to invite you that we look first and remind ourselves of our tendency to deny and refuse to be confronted and criticized of our sins and failures.

    Thus, I would like to share with you the two forms of denial that may become our attitude when confronted by others.

    First, when confronted, we might tend to overemphasize the faults of others yet; there will be no acknowledgement of our personal defects and sinfulness. This overemphasis of the faults of others is a mere cover up of one’s skeletons hidden in the closet. It is a way of taking revenge cruelly.

    Second, when confronted, we could display an air of self-righteousness and arrogance in our hearts; claiming that we are always right and good and never committed any mistake. As a result, we could become violent to our critics and would even seek to destroy them. This kind of attitude boasts oneself of his or her good image but hungry of recognition and praise from people around him or her.

    Moreover, there is actually wisdom and goodness in criticism in itself and by being confronted by others. This is how others, friends, family members and our community play a big role  in conversion and transformation.

    Nevertheless, we also remind ourselves also of these two kinds of criticism. There is a constructive criticism and destructive criticism.

    A constructive criticism seeks the good of my brother and sister. In this criticism, we do not seek to ridicule the person but to help the person to grow and learn from mistakes and failures. It gives both positive and negative feedbacks. This is done with honesty and sincerity. St Paul in his letter to the Romans reminded us too to express our love for one another. Indeed, in this way we express it concretely because this seeks the good of the others. We fulfill, then, the law, because it does no evil to our neighbor, but goodness and love.

    This is basically what Jesus offers us in the Gospel today.

    Jesus offers us to do it intimately and confront the person personally. If this will not work, then, Jesus suggests to bring a common friend to serve as a mediator. Yet, if the two will not work and the person continues to refuse, then we seek the judgment of the community or of the Church.

    On the other hand, what we avoid and what Jesus does not want to happen is when we choose the destructive criticism, which is hateful because it desires damage to my brother and sister. It is destructive because it puts down and humiliates the person and has no desire to help the person to grow and to learn. Destructive criticism is a mere accusation that is filled with bitterness and hate.

    Thus, this is done with evil intent. It is usually done when we talk behind the person in initiating, perpetrating and joining others to destroy the image of a person, like in gossiping.

    Advertisements

    Jesus does not want us to be that bitter and hateful accuser of our brothers and sisters but rather disciples of him who are humble enough to recognize our wrongdoings, and courageous enough to speak what is unjust and oppressive around us. Jesus desires that each of us becomes free by being able to recognize our sins so that transformation of hearts will be possible. It is in this way that we become a help to one another, so that as parents, leaders, mentors and authority figures, we will not be leading others blindly but with humility and willingness to be corrected, affirmed and challenged.

    This is where we can find the need of the participation of the community, and that is to be united in prayer. To be united in prayer is to become discerning both in our words and actions. To be united in prayer also practically suggests that we are in a community, and we are a community. When we become united in prayer, then, we allow the Lord to be present in us.

    Thus, to be able to truly confront the sins and failures present in our community, we are called also that we unite in prayer. This also include that we bring, in the spirit of prayer, our effort to confront and correct one another so that we will grow and become the persons God wants us to be.

    To be united in prayer is not just about asking God’s favor to grant our petitions. To be united in prayer then, is to pray in the name of Jesus and that is according to the mind, heart and will of the Lord.

    To be united in prayer also means to change our hearts and minds according to the will of God and not changing God’s mind and heart according to our own desires. As a community, this will help us to be able to trust in God and to give our hearts to God so that we can grow according to God’s desire for us. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR

  • Together We Have and We Can.

    Together We Have and We Can.

    Advertisements

    September 6, 2020 – 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/090620.cfm)

    Homily

    How come Filipinos manage and remain to be resilient and strong in times of crisis and disasters? How come, Filipinos can easily bounce back and rebuild their lives despite worst life-conditions and terrible events in life? 

    During typhoon Ondoy back September 2009, I happened to be in Belgium finishing my master’s degrees and licentiate in Theology. The above-questions were raised by my professors, colleagues and classmates which even I myself cannot help but also wonder. In response to their questions, I narrated to them a testimony of Ondoy-survivor which was published in Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper few days after the incident.

    During the typhoon, residents of an apartment seek refuge on the rooftop of their building. As they settle-in, while waiting for rescue and/or for the flood to subside, they started to pray the rosary together even if without their beads but by just using their fingers to count. After rosary, they pulled-out whatever provisions they were able to recover, and shared it with one another. As they had their fill, they began to share their stories – their experiences and backgrounds, hopes and dreams, fears and frustrations, as well as jokes and life-dramas.

    In others words, as answer to these questions, it is because we, Filipinos do and share things together especially during times of life-crisis and difficulties. We are not perfect people. We do have our own shortcomings and limitations. Nevertheless, we do have a common life. We usually live life together as family and community. And particularly, we usually pray, eat and share our stories together in good times and bad times.

    Somehow our Filipino togetherness, our common life as Filipino reflects the values Jesus upholds in our gospel today. For Jesus, Christian life must be lived and witnessed in the spirit of the following morals.

    First, together we pray. Christian life should have and share a common recognition and faith in God. Jesus said, “where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in their midst.” God’s presence, love and mercy are assured and promised whenever we pray together in His name. Second, together we eat. Christian life should also have and share a common concerns and regards for others. Ours and the salvation of others is our responsibility. Not the judge or the savior, but we are all our brother’s keeper. They are in our watch and it is our responsibility to correct them when they are at fault, feed them when hungry, and take care of them when they need help. And lastly, together we share our life-stories. As Christians, we must also have and share common meanings, ideals and morals in life. Jesus said, “what we declare bound or loosed on earth shall be held bound or loosed in heaven”. Our life as community is the bearer of God’s salvation. God’s grace of redemption reveals itself and happens in and through our community, i.e. in partnership with our life together as community. What we value and give importance in life is sacred before God’s eyes. We also accept what God deems important to our lives which is Love.

    While we do have our shortcomings and still struggling, we cannot deny as Filipino we do possess these values and qualities as people. As reflected in our aspired values of maka-Dios, makatao at maka-Pilipino, we do have the basic orientation towards others (Dios, tao at Pilipino) as well as of doing, sharing and living life together in common. Thus, together we have and we can overcome life-worse crises.

    It was once said that we, human being as like angels, but angels with only one wing. For us to fly and rise, we need one another, we need each other. Together we do our part so that in partnership with God, we can be with Him always.

    Pandemic times has indeed rendered us physically & socially distance from one another and has deeply challenged our common life,  but it would not hinder us Filipinos together to share our Faith by our prayers, our Charity by our food-agape, & our values & meanings by our stories with one another, and with others. As the world struggles with the challenges of pandemic times, we take note of numbers of Filipinos on the frontlines, both here & abroad who raised to the occasion, been responsible and tirelessly sharing to the world all time, talents, and experiences of our common Filipino resiliency and strength by the witness of our faith, charity & stories especially during times of worse life-crises. May our life and faith as Filipino Catholic Christian people & communities be a constant gift and witness now and always to the world especially at this pandemic times. Amen

    By  Fr. Aphelie Mario Masangcay, CSsR (a former Filipino Redemptorist Missionary for Filipino Migrants in South Korea who, due to immune compromised diabetic condition, stationed back home  in the Philippines for now).

    Follow Me

    Get new content delivered directly to your inbox.